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AI and the Tree of Knowledge

2026-09-25T17:35:54.272-05:00

AI and the Tree of Knowledge

For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:6)

By Donald Rhody

It does not take long in reading the first chapter of Genesis of the Bible before a list of questions begin to form in my mind. Of course, there are many questions that arise from the actual creation itself – questions that are unanswerable to us, but I would like to jump ahead to the second chapter, where we learn about the presence of two trees that grew in the midst of the garden:

And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:8-9, 16-17)

My question arises from the second of these trees – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Actually, I have a series of related questions about this tree: First of all, “Isn’t knowledge a good thing? Isn’t it good for us to know the difference between what is good and what is evil? Why did God want to withhold this information from us?”

We know, of course, what transpired with that prohibition of eating the forbidden fruit. Satan was allowed entrance into the garden, where he enticed the woman and man into eating it, after which “the eyes of both of them were opened.”

Again I ask, “Isn’t it good to have open eyes? Speaking both in the physical and in a moral sense, open eyes certainly must be better than stumbling around in the dark!”

And again we know the story: Adam and Eve saw that they were naked and tried to cover themselves. There is something in this that is more than the physical. There was a sense that their actual souls were exposed. They may have been ashamed that they were exposed to one another and to God, but I think that their greater shame was that, for the first time, they were exposed to themselves. For the first time, they saw within themselves the almost unlimited potential for good, but also their almost unlimited potential for evil. It must have been the sight of their own potential for evil that was the most frightening.

It is this potential for evil that caused Adam and Eve to hide themselves when they heard they sound of God walking in the garden. The fellowship had been severed. They no longer felt one with their Creator.

The result, as you remember, was the expulsion from the garden:

Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...”

Therefore the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. (Genesis 3:22-23)

The First Lesson in Restoration

I am skipping a lot in the telling of this story, but I want to get to the question of why God did not want Adam and Even to have the knowledge of good and evil.

We come now to the two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel – now young men. One of the things that must have transpired between the time of the expulsion from the garden and the birth of the two boys was some instruction by God on how to begin to reestablish the broken relationship between man and God. Part of this instruction was the sacrificing of an animal as an offering to God.

This may seem like a strange way to reestablish the relationship – even pagan. There is also much teaching in this that I am going to skip for the present, but it all has to do with the foretelling of what God would ultimately have to do to completely reestablish our communion with Him.

Without going deeply into what this was in teaching these first people, we can generally say that these were foundational lessons that were intended to lead to the final solution to the sin problem that came with the fall. That solution would eventually be found in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

Return to the Question

But I want to return to the question of knowledge: Why did God want to withhold knowledge from us?

God actually did begin to open the door to knowledge soon after the sinful fall in the garden. We see the very beginning after Adam and Eve tried to cover their shame with leaves attached to their exposed bodies. But their uncovered bodies were not the primary issue. God showed them that those leaves were unacceptable, and that an animal had to be sacrificed in order to clothe them properly.

We see this next in the sacrifices that Cain and Abel were to bring to God. In those sacrifices, Abel brought the firstborn of his flock to God, but Cain did not. Cain brought only some produce of the land as his offering. This was not according to how God had instructed him. Cain thought that he could substitute something of lesser value for God.

When God did not accept his offering, Cain became angry.

“Why are you angry,” God said to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master[1] it.” (Genesis 4:6-7).

Here, God is speaking of the knowledge of our potential for evil that Adam and Eve discovered when they ate of the fruit. God introduces a new word for us: sin (chattath). Sin is defined as a transgression or offense against God or man. It speaks of the missing of the goals which God is seeking to accomplish in our lives.

Interestingly, this word is not used only for the sin itself, but it is also used for the offering given to God because of the sin. The significance of this double meaning is that the offering actually becomes the sin for which it is given. The offering takes upon itself the sin.

I think that this may be why God instructed Cain and Able that it was a lamb that had to be sacrificed. This is another reference to the then future offering that was given by Jesus for our sin. Jesus actually became the sin for which He was given as an offering. It would not be enough to burn incense or to give an offering of food. For reasons that we do not fully understand, it was required to be a sacrifice of blood.

As it turned out, Cain did not master over the sin that was crouching at his door. When he and Abel were in the field and away from the house, Cain “rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.”

Blood was spilled, but it was not the blood of a renewed fellowship with God. It was the blood of the knowledge of the potential for evil that was crouching at the door of Cain’s soul.

Confronted by God over what he had done, Cain flees the area. He seeks to hide from God and from his past by disappearing to a land that laid to the east of Eden – a place referred to as Nod.[2] It was in that land that the family line of Cain began. It began with a son by the name of Enoch, who in time had a great-grandson by the name of Lamech.

It is with the life of Lamech that we see the nature of this family line continue to decline. Lamech recited what could be called a poem to his wives Adah and Zillah, or perhaps one could call it an early song. It was one which showed the character of this man:

Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech.

For I have slain a man for wounding me,

A young man for striking me.

If Cain is avenged sevenfold,

Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.

The reference to Cain being avenged sevenfold is from what God said to Cain after the murder of Abel. To allay Cain’s fear that he would himself be killed because of what he did to his brother, God told him, “If anyone slays Cain, then Cain will be avenged sevenfold.”

Lamech was taking these words of God, which were meant to calm the fears of Cain, and instead using them as a threat. Lamech makes reference to killing a young man because the man apparently had a dispute with him, so Lamech struck him. Lamech is bragging about the fact that he took his own vengeance upon this man by killing him.

The First Technologies

From AI and the latest developments in technology, we return to look at the early days of technology. In doing so, it is interesting to see that the very first developments in technology began in the rebellious family line of Cain. In the sixth generations after Cain that we read this about his descendants:

Adah (the wife of Lamech) gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and raise livestock. And his brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.

And Zillah (Lamech’s other wife) gave birth to Tubal-cain, a forger of every implement of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. (Genesis 4:20-22)

The two brothers, Jabel and Jubal, chose very different occupations – Jabal, the first to begin a nomadic lifestyle of following feeding grounds for his livestock, and Jubal, who introduced the world to music. These are life-styles more than what we would call technology.

It is their half-brother Tubal-cain who was the first to develop actual technological advances. The word implement[3] in this verse has a connotation of engraving or plowing. It is sometimes translated as devising. His was the creation of tools used in the growing of agricultural crops.

There is nothing inherently immoral or evil about any of these occupations. But it is interesting to note that that these developments took place among the family of Cain—the family who had fled from the presence of God.

It is directly after the mention of Tubal-cain’s forging of tools that we read Lamech’s song of boasting about avenging himself on those who strike him. Of course, this does not mean that the father Lamech slew the young man by using one of Lamech’s implements, but it does mean that the violence introduced by Cain when he rose up and killed his brother Abel continued with his family line.

Technology in the hands of a violent people will always turn and be used for violence. This was knowledge that should not have been given to the rebellious family line of Cain. The fact that this ability to forge metal came suddenly seems to indicate that it was not a knowledge that was developed over generations, but that it was a knowledge that was revealed to Tubal-cain. But if so, where would this knowledge have come from?

The Nephilim

There is much of the historical record that the Scriptures do not tell us about this period, but at some point during these years, an event took place between the spiritual and the physical that set the course of the earth on an extremely evil trajectory.

We read about this in Genesis, chapter 6:

Now when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose…

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown. (Genesis 6:1-4 BSB)

These are troubling words that tell of an event about which we know extremely little. In fact, so little do we know that the church has historically debated what the words, “the sons of God,” mean. The term, as it reads in the English, can throw us off, because stated in this way, it sounds like these are righteous beings who took human wives.

But it is a mistake to interpret the words in this way. Loosely speaking, we can say that these are angels, but they are not among the angels who remained under the lordship of God. These are the “fallen angels,” the ones who joined Satan in his rebellion against God. This was at the time when Satan said in his heart:

“I will ascend to the heavens;

I will raise my throne above the stars of God.

I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the far reaches of the north.

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:13-14 BSB)

These “sons of God” who took human women as wives were demons who embodied themselves in human form. Even the phrase “took as wives,” can cause us to envision wrongly what happened at this time. As we have read, the demons took “whomever they chose,” indicating that this was more a case of rape, rather than formal marriage.

This was an extreme act of rebellion against God, since not only did these demons follow Satan in his rebellion against God, but passed an inter-species boundary that was forbidden by God. As a result of this act, God took special action against these particular demons.

The New Testament writer Jude writes that “the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day” (Jude 1:6).

But before these demons were enchained, they had impregnated a number of human women. The result of these mixed species unions was a race of beings known as the “Nephilim.” This word, Nephilim, has the meaning of something relating to a fall – a fall both of themselves, and also causing others to fall.

Our verses in Genesis 6 tells us that the Nephilim were “mighty men of old, men of renown.” Again, this phrase can also give us a mistaken idea of what kind of men that they were. It is not the way in which we may use the phrase today. These men may have been “mighty;” they may have been “renown,” but these were not good men. They were “infamous,” rather than “famous.” They were the evil giants of that day.

The Watchers

We have an extra-biblical source that tells us that these advances in technology that came from the lineage of Cain did not come naturally, and that they did not come from a benevolent source. I am speaking specifically about some writings contained in an ancient text called the Book of Enoch. This book is not part of the canonical scriptures, so it would be wrong to lend too much veracity to it. Nevertheless, it was a text that was highly regarded in the early church.

We saw that Jude spoke of the angels who did not stay within their own domain. Jude then also warns us about those who have “traveled the path of Cain,” quoting the book of Enoch:

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them:

“Behold, the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.” (Jude 1:14-15 BSB)[4]

This Book of Enoch gives a more detailed account of these particular fallen angels, who were originally called the Watchers. It was these who rebelled against the domains set by God, took human form and began the race of the Nephilim.

What is written in the book of Enoch is that these were about 200 angels who descended from heaven onto Mount Hermon, which in ancient Canaanite mythology, was regarded as a sacred mountain. It was after this that these angels violated the divine boundaries imposed on them by God in taking on human forms so that they could impregnate human women. As I mentioned, this was an extreme act of rebellion against God. It was because of this that God placed them in the “eternal chains under darkness, and bound for judgment on that great day.”

It was the children of these unions, half human and half demonic, who were called the Nephilim. The Nephilim soon became a violent race, voraciously consuming the resources of the Earth, and when other sources of food were extinguished, they even began to consume people.

The other thing that is said in the Book of Enoch is that these watchers introduced various forms of knowledge to the people. They taught the people astrology and introduced to them sorcery and enchantments. Notably, they also taught the people how to forge metal. The Watchers introduced to the people what could be called the first stages of technology.

We have noted the metalogical skills of Tubal-cain, who was a blacksmith, making tools for agriculture. This was knowledge that would have been useful, but like almost all technological advances in history, these blacksmithing skills soon turned to making weapons.

The Early Mesopotamians

Cain, in his running away from the presence of God, fled to “the east.” It is difficult to be specific where he finally settled, but if he fled far enough, it likely would have been to a part of the region that would soon be called Mesopotamia.

It is widely accepted by historians that it was in this region of Mesopotamia where technology first arose, besides several other attributes of civilization. Because of this, the Mesopotamians are highly regarded by modern historians as those who first brought development to a previously uncivilized society. Mesopotamia is often called the cradle of civilization.

Interestingly, the Mesopotamian texts themselves describe the knowledge and the foundations of civilization that came to them as gifts from the divine beings.[5] The texts tell of these beings coming to them to teach and to show them many skills.

As I said, although the Book of Enoch is considered canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible, it is not so in other Eastern Orthodox Bibles, nor in the Protestant or Catholic Bibles. Because of this, I will not claim inerrancy to what is written in the Book of Enoch about the Watchers, but I do find it interesting that the first technological developments came through the line of Cain, and not of Abel.

Two Separate Lines

Abel apparently did not have any children before Cain murdered him, but Adam and Eve later fathered another son, whom they named Seth. Of Seth’s family line, we read only this: “And to Seth also a son was born, and he called him Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of the LORD” (Genesis 4:26).

Cain’s line introduced violence into civilization, but Seth’s line turned to God for guidance. Technology was introduced to the world through the line of Cain, but through the line of Seth, men began to call upon the name of the LORD. Why is this difference of any significance?

This does not mean that technology is evil, and that those who advance technology are those who do not regard God as sovereign, but it does mean that God knew that in introducing knowledge too soon that there would always be a tendency to turn that technology for evil purposes. There is always a proper time to introduce knowledge.

Thus, we return to our original question: “Why did God forbid Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?”

And thus, it is here, in the family line of Cain, that we begin to see the answer. In Cain’s line of descendants, the beginning of technology was achieved before there was a proper understanding about how it should be used. Their technology developed before their morality. When new technology arose, they were still infants in morality. They did not know how to handle the new developments. It may have begun with peaceful purposes, but those purposes where soon overshadowed by harmful effects.

The Great Flood

It is in the verses following the account of the Nephilim in the bible (our bible), that tell us that the invasion of these half human and half demonic beings into the realm of humans resulted in a generation of extremely wicked men. This was a generation of people whose “every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.”

The Scriptures even say that “the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”

Consequently, God said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”

But there was one man during this time who had retained a righteous life: the man Noah – “the preacher of righteousness,” as Peter calls him (2 Peter 2:5).

When the people of Noah’s day failed to hear his words and what Noah said would be the consequences of their sinful lifestyle, God sent the great flood upon the earth to fulfill what he said he would do—blotting out all of mankind, including the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. He preserved only Noah and his family, and also the progenitors of every species of animals.

It was a new beginning. God’s intention for His creation after the flood was very similar to what He told Adam in the beginning. God now tells Noah, “Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground—so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it.”

He told Noah to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 8:17; 9:1).

This may have been the intention of Noah and his family, along with their progeny for some generations, but God’s desire that men and women should “fill the earth” quickly deteriorated into tribalism – not many individual tribes, but a single tribe of what man intended should be a testimony to his own greatness.

This tribe of mankind decided to build a tower.

Babel

“Come,” the people said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11:4).

So they built the tower. They intended this tower to “reach to the heavens.”

The Tower of Babel was exactly the opposite of God’s intentions for the people of the earth. God had told Noah that the people were to be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth. The people of Babel did not want to do this. They wanted to build the tower so that they “not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”

We sometimes tend to think that the ancient people were comparatively brutish and dim-witted than we are today when it comes to technology. But this is not true. Today, the more that archeologists discover about some of the earliest civilizations, the more we have come to realize that these ancient peoples possessed abilities that have long been lost. We actually have no idea of how some of the ancient structures were made that involved the movement of hewn stones of many tons. The people of the day of Babel had advanced knowledge of technology, one that was rapidly developing, and one which was developing before the people had the moral capacity to use the knowledge wisely.

This also was God’s assessment of the people of Babel. God recognized what was happening at Babel was more than a multitude of people piling rocks together to build a tall tower. He saw that they were at the threshold of some sort of technological breakthrough.

God said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them.”

The Contemporary Tower of Babel

If we progress in time to the present, this is exactly the spiritual point where we are today. We also are a people who speak the same language. It is not a language of the tongue, but a language of zeros and ones.[6] And like the original Tower of Babel, with AI, we are at the point of devising something that ten years ago, we would have thought was beyond us. It will be a technological breakthrough. To use the assessment of God at Babel, it is beginning to seem like “nothing we devise will be beyond us.”

We can easily see the benefits to this. Personally speaking, I have worked in several countries of the world in my lifetime and have had to try to understand what was being said in several different languages. How nice it would have been to be able to have the technology to understand every conversation! This is the good side of technology.

But presently, leaders of the world and even leaders in technology are beginning to fear the dark side of technology. They are telling us that on its present trajectory, AI will soon have the capability to be able to outperform humans at virtually every task. The AI models will soon be at the point where they do not need human leadership or intervention. In fact, we as humans will not even be able to intervene, since we will not even be able to understand the processes that the AI models are running.

We are building a technology that has the potential of considering the presence of humans as excessive, and even wasteful to its own existence.

Bad Precedents

Historically speaking, the human race has had a mixed bag when it comes to technology. Computer generated AI is not the first time that technology has taken a nefarious turn. From ancient farming tools being made into armaments of war, to the creation of the atom bomb, to the industrial weapons complex, man has found in some way to use virtually every new technology for implements of destruction or for killing. All throughout history we have seen technology used for the devestation of civilizations.

It is destruction not only in this, but we have used our technologies to feed our excessive and ever-growing desire for consumption and self-interests. Our technologies have brought pollution and destruction of our planet.

We are being sold the same line by the developers of AI. We are being told that within a few years, robots will be able to do virtually all the work for us, and there will be so much wealth that no one will have to work. We will all be given a Universal Basic Income, and all of our needs will be met. The cost in all of this for us is only an increased consumption of the resources of the earth. We have learned nothing from our past experiences with technology.

The earlier forms of technology needed to be guided by man to be turned into destructive forces, but now, with AI, we have been told that it will soon have the potential to take its own initiative to be able to make moral choices. This does not mean that AI is evil in and of itself. Ethically speaking, we can say that technology is neither good or evil. It is morally neutral.

The problem comes because our own limits of knowledge in technology have grown much faster than our own morality. In our personal ethical wisdom, we are infants in comparison to our ability to devise new technologies. It is with this poorly developed sense of morality that we have put our own inadequacies into the AI models.

It is this same imbalanced growth in our own morality that has given rise to the malicious tendencies that we have to eventually turn almost all technologies for evil purposes. This is also the fear of AI. It has potential for good, but it also has tremendous potential for destruction.

Back to the Two Trees

And this is precisely what brings us back to the very dawn of time—back to the Garden of Eden and the prohibition that God placed on us against eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The prohibition that God first placed on humans was given not because knowledge in some way was bad. God’s prohibition was not because He wanted to keep knowledge from us. God commanded Adam and Eve to eat only from the Tree of Life and not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge because He knew that it was important to first mature in life before achieving too much knowledge.

God fully intended us to have knowledge, but it must come at the proper time. Knowledge before maturity will always find a way to be used destructively.

In forbidding Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, God was not sending the message that knowledge is evil, but He was sending the message that before knowledge, one must first find maturity in morality. Before knowledge it is better to first be mature in ethical wisdom. This ethical wisdom can only be found in an all-embracing value of life itself.

As we remember, the other tree in the garden was the Tree of Life. This was the tree from which Adam and Eve could eat freely. God intended to teach them the value of life before they could be given knowledge. It is life above knowledge.

Throughout history, we have seen instead the quest of knowledge to be more valued than the quest for morality. Because our values have been reversed, we have seen many of our advances in technology used in bringing death instead of life. This may be intentional death, like the development of the atomic bomb and the advances in weaponry, or it may be unintentional, like we have seen with recent experiments with the altering of our DNA.

With the advent of AI, we are seeing an unprecedented valuing of knowledge above life.

And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them.”

In the day of Babel, God came down and confused the tongues of the people. Babel was the turning point.

We are again at a turning point. Will it be a confusing of our digital tongue, or will we be able to learn the value of morality and life above the knowledge of technology?

[1] Mashal - to have dominion, reign, bear, cause to, have ruling have power

[2] The word “Nod” means “wandering.” Perhaps this means that in Cain’s departure, he began a life of wandering.

[3] 2790a. charash

[4] See the First Book of Enoch (1 Enoch 1:9)

[5] Their texts describe the Sumerian “ME”

The ME are divine teachings or “programs” that taught the Mesopotamians how to govern every aspect of civilization, including government, music, law, craftmanship, and more. In the myth Inanna and Enki, the goddess Inanna obtains these ME teachings from Enki and brings them to Uruk, which was a site in the Mesopotamian valley. These teachings are described as objects which has led to modern interpretations comparing them to different types of technology.

[6] Actually, AI companies are developing models that will instantly translate any spoken word into any other language, so that a person speaking Mandarin Chinese, for instance, will be able to have a conversation with another person speaking English

OUR COW PROJECT

2026-07-05T20:25:39.089-05:00

One of the projects/vocational training that we have at the orphanage is the dairy industry. Steadily we are trying to improve our small herd. This is good training for the orphans, besides the benefit of providing some milk for use in the kitchen.

2026-07-03T06:17:53.018-05:00

I have posted before about out need to improve our kitchen to make it a healthier environment for cooking and to provide healthy meals for the children. This was mandated to us by the government of Kenya.

Praise God for what He has provided through the years! Here is a quick tour of our newly completed kitchen

As a comparison, this was our kitchen that we began with in 2017. The haze is not haze, but smoke from the fire

CARPENTRY CLASS

2026-04-19T06:24:00.000-05:00

Our boys are making tables in the carpentry class to help support the orphanage

NEW SEWING MACHINES

2026-03-26T15:27:00.002-05:00

Happy days for our vocational school tailoring class! New sewing machines and fabric. Thank you God and thanks also to those who donated. We are hoping to get our school going again

NEW KITCHEN

2026-03-15T08:42:00.000-05:00

Our orphanage kitchen is not yet totally complete, but it is coming along nicely. Much better than the three-rock campfire on a dirt floor kitchen that we had when I first visited

WATER !

2026-02-21T08:26:00.001-06:00

It's been a long time coming with several setbacks, but finally we had enough funds to install a pump into our deep borehole well powered by a solar panel array.

We still need to put up a water tank tower so that the water will be available not only for the orphanage, but for the people of the village.

NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR OUR KITCHEN

2025-07-17T21:18:00.002-05:00

From the time that we began this orphanage, we have been careful to always follow the government recommendations and instructions in all of our buildings and actions.

We have now been informed that we need to build a new kitchen to meet government standards.

Below is also a photo of the kitchen that we have been using, which I actually thought was a good one, but now we will be building a new one. Estimated cost - about $2500

Thanks for your prayers!

NEW CHURCH AT IGORERA

2025-06-22T08:29:00.003-05:00

We have a new group of believers in the village of Igorera in Kisii. As you can see, they have no building yet, but meet in a grove of small Eucalyptus trees.

Please pray for these new believers as they begin their lives with Jesus.

To learn more about this work in Kisii, Kenya, please go to www.mipod.org

NEW PLACE OF WORSHIP BEING BUILT IN SENGERA

2025-06-13T17:26:00.001-05:00

Sengera is the site of the main church, which is in the same village as the orphanage. A few months ago, the church was offered a lot on the main road and near to the market area if they would build a new church there.

The Sengera church has grown in numbers so rapidly that since I began visiting there in 2017, they had already needed to build a larger place of worship, but they soon grew out of that one as well. Now, a larger one was needed again.

The first two buildings were of mud construction, but now, for the new building, they are pouring columns and beams to make a long-lasting structure. It appears to be a large building. That is good, since they have about 450 attendees each Sunday.

Please pray for this church along with the four other churches that have grown out of this one.

PROGRESS AT THE NYAMIOBO CHURCH

2025-06-06T19:46:00.003-05:00

The brothers at our Nyamiobo church had put up the framework for a place of worship, but had no money to buy the tin sheets. We praise God that a family has now donated enough money to purchase the sheets!

Thank you Jesus!

Meanwhile, the work for the church building at our main church near the orphanage continues. Many people are dedicating their lives to the Lord. We are thankful for what He is doing

Please visit www.mipod.org to learn about the work in Kenya

OUR TAILORING CLASS

2025-05-30T21:26:00.000-05:00

The kids at our orphanage are learning tailoring well. Since cloth is so “dear,” they are practicing by using some packaging material. They presently have one treadle sewing machine, and one hand crank.

Our vocational instruction classes are still operating with limited resources, but we praise God for what He has allowed us to do!

THE LOG CHURCH AT NYAMIOBO, KISII KENYA

2025-05-01T21:09:00.000-05:00

The members of the Log Church in Nyamiobo in Kisii Kenya have erected the framework for a church building and are now praying for the metal sheeting

NEW CHURCH BUILDING

2025-04-07T21:54:00.000-05:00

Our church in Kenya just keeps growing. What began as one group of believers near the orphanage, has now become four churches with the other three in other villages.

The church near the orphanage has already grown out of two buildings. Those first two were made of waddle and daub (woven sticks, plastered with mud). But with the growth of the church in the village, they have now been given a piece of property near the market, where they are presently building a true building with cement columns and brick.

We praise God for this gift of land, and the opportunity to have a building that will be more accessible.

The children of the orphanage are helping with this construction. They are carrying water from the river and helping to mix and pour the cement.

OUR VOCATIONAL SCHOOL CARPENTRY CLASS

2025-03-29T18:51:00.003-05:00

Our carpentry teacher for the vocation school at the orphanage has been away on a job for a few weeks, but he has now returned, and our carpentry class has resumed. I am very encouraged about our vocational school. It is teaching our kids real practical and lifelong skill that can help them in their lives.

They tell me that they lack tools to advance further, but we are very thankful for the tools that we have, and as you can see, they appear to be doing a great job with the tools available to them.

Please continue to pray for these kids. It is not only the vocational school, but we still have many children in the local primary and secondary schools.

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If you would like to help with the various projects and needs of the orphanage, please go to http://mipod.org learn how. Thanks so much. God bless you!

GROWING KALE

2025-03-22T08:59:00.003-05:00

Perhaps you do not grow much kale in your garden. I must admit the fact that I do not grow it in my garden. But kale is an important part of the diet of the orphans. They first establish it in shaded nursery beds, then transplant it in the garden.

As of yet, all watering is done by water carried up on the shoulders of the kids from the river. We have a borehole, but as of yet, we have not been able to purchase the pump and other equipment.

Kale there can grow tall, as you can see by this photo taken a couple of years ago of me standing in a field of kale. The bottom leaves are taken for food, and the top continues to grow more leaves.

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If you would like to help with this work in supporting our orphanage in Kenya, please go to https://mipod.org

OUR WELDING STUDENTS ADVANCE IN THEIR SKILLS

2025-02-28T21:05:00.007-06:00

To the best that we are able to do at this time, we continue with our vocational classes in tailoring, carpentry, and as you can see below, in our welding class. We are able to continue thanks to the gracious volunteering of the teachers. When we no longer had the funding to pay them, they volunteered their services. They did not want the students to forget what they had been taught.

The students in the welding class have advanced to the point that they have developed skills necessary to fabricate some items (such as the door in this video). They now can make these items on their own, without guidance from the teacher.

It is a true joy to see how these kids are enthusiastic in their work, all to the praise of God.

Concerning payment for the teachers, a few weeks ago (February 7), I put a post on this blog about the tailoring class. We are very thankful that we lately have been able to give that teacher some payment.

We praise God for what He is doing, and we know that He will continue with these kids.

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If you would like to help out with the work in the orphanage, please go to http://mipod.org to find out more.

MILK WITH A LITTLE TEA

2025-02-21T15:33:00.002-06:00

Our milk cows are part of both our education for the kids, and to provide some milk. Of course, two cows cannot provide enough milk for 70+ people who are eating at the orphanage. But milk for tea!

Everyone in Kenya, both adults and kids, love their tea. It also helps that the hills of Kisii are covered with tea gardens!

(This is the way that farmers and milkmaids got the cows to let down their milk

in several countries where I have worked. First, they let the calf suck

to get the milk started, then take the calf away and milk the cow)

Of course, being a former colony of England, they drink it English style—with lots of milk. I got introduced to this way of drinking tea (and kind of got hooked on it) when I lived in India.

We currently have two cows that are milking at the orphanage. Together, they give about 10 litres per day. I don’t know how much milk this gives when divided among 70+ cups, but we’re so thankful!

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If you would like to help out with our orphanage, please go to https://mipod.org to find out more

OUR GARDEN PROJECT

2025-02-14T12:50:00.000-06:00

For some time, we have been working to develop food sources for the kids of the orphanage. On previous blogs, you have seen the poultry and the dairy projects. Long ago, we also began a vegetable garden. With all of these projects, our greatest limiting factor is lack of land.

The chickens and the cows can be fed from outside sources. For instance, the children go out to cut napier grass to be fed to the cows, and other greens and mash for the chickens. But food from the garden can be grown only on what little land is in the owned by the orphanage.

But here are some videos that demonstrate what the kids are doing. So far, we do not have a pump for the borehole, so watering the plants is done with water carried on the shoulders of the kids from deep in a valley. The banana leaves are used to preserve the soil moisture.

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If you would like to help, please go to mipod.org to learn how

OUR VOCATIONAL TAILORING CLASS

2025-02-07T19:56:00.001-06:00

Although our vocational school has been on hold for several weeks, the instructors have volunteered to teach for one day a week so that the students do not lose the skills that they are learning.

One of these, John Momanyi, is the teacher who is giving lessons in sewing clothes. Tailoring is a skill that is useful, since most of the clothing is individually made. Contrary to our situation in the US, tailor-made clothing is much less expensive than clothes that one buys in the stores.

John has been very helpful to our students is a tailor who has a business at the market. He reportedly is a very good teacher and well liked by the kids of the orphanage. We are also praying for this John’s business as well, as he is in need of a better machine.

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If you would like to help with this vocational class for the kids, please visit mipod.org for more information, Thanks so much!

THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR

2025-01-25T11:10:00.001-06:00

We are thankful that God has provided that our orphan kids can attend school this year. In Kenya, the school year begins in January and ends in December, with some weeks of holiday between school terms.

Of course we do not yet have funding for the entire year, but if what God has done for the past 8 years since we began this orphanage is any indication, He will again provide.

Frankly, this past year has been a year of severe trials for us, and we were considering skipping a year of government school and simply concentrating on the vocational school that we have begun. Our training in the vocational school is intended to prepare our kids for life outside of the orphanage as working adults.

But the government of Kenya requires all school-aged
children to attend both the primary and secondary education. The truth is, not all kids do, especially in our area where the orphanage is located. Many families simply do not have money to send their kids.

But praise God! Our kids are again in school this year!

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If you would like to have a part in helping these kids, please visit mipod.org to learn more

OUR POULTRY PROJECT

2025-01-17T09:06:00.004-06:00

We have had to curtail some of our vocational school courses because of lack of finances, but we do not want to completely stop them, since we have already put a lot of effort into training our kids for some type of work where they can earn a living.

Even the teachers whom we had hired for the courses do not want to stop completely. At the present, we cannot pay them, but they have volunteered to teach their respective classes on one day each week so that the kids to not forget what they have learned.

Along with the small dairy that we began, we also have chickens. These are not for slaughter, but for egg production to help with the food budget. Presently, we have 26 chickens in the flock.

We did have more – 56, but during a period of food shortage, we had to sell 30 of them to buy some food. For the 30 chickens, we received 18,000 Kenya Shillings, which is something like US$ 139. We feed 76 people at each meal, so that was enough to buy two small meals for each person. That is only 91 cents per person/meal. A good meal actually costs more than that, but this was able to sustain the kids and staff for a bit. Thankfully, God soon sent more resources to buy more food.

We praise God for all things. He is beginning to bring us out a very difficult period. We continue to trust him for all things.

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If you would like to help in this work of the orphanage and vocational school, please visit our website, mipod.org to learn more

THE KENYA ORPHANAGE - TIME TO GET BACK ON THE ROAD

2025-01-10T11:25:00.001-06:00

I have not posted about our Kenya orphanage for a while, and I apologize for that. It has been a trying couple of months for me, both in regard to the orphanage in Kenya and at the church in the US where I am pastor. As a result, our transition for the oversight of the orphanage to the new mission organization has hit a few bumps in the road, but the road crew has been out fixing some of the potholes, and we are again moving forward.

Nevertheless, our forward progress has been slowed by some of the events that have come upon us, and we are limited to what realistic goals can be accomplished in the short term. In many regards, we are back to the point where we were when we began this orphanage—simply trusting God for food and enough funding to pay the school fees for the children.

Food security has been an issue from the beginning and will continue to be. In the past, we established the vegetable garden, but realistically speaking, we could never grow enough food in the garden with the very limited land area that we have.

Our New "Cow House"

We have now also begun a small-scale livestock project with chickens and cows. We praise God for this opportunity both to have another source for food/income, and also to teach the kids some basics of animal husbandry.

Gathering Napier Fodder for the Cows

I am excited especially about the cows, since those of you who know me personally also know that I have my own small herd of cows.

Please continue to pray for this work. It has not been without difficulties and even enemies, but I can never abandon these kids whom the Lord has rescued from the world and to whom He called me to help and minister. Thanks so much.

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If you would like to donate to this work, please go to the website www.mipod.org for payment options.

Thanks so much and God bless you!

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

2024-11-11T15:37:00.003-06:00

At the very beginning, I suspected a scam. I told them so.

About 9 years ago, I began trading emails with a pastor in Kenya who read my sermons on this blog site. He would ask me questions and also send me notes on his sermons. I was happy to share thoughts with him, but inwardly there was always a little hint of suspicion.

“I wonder how long it will be until he asks me for money?”

That day did eventually come, and I immediately was on my guard. He told me of the need for an orphanage in his village. “So many street kids living in garbage heaps,” he said.

Like I said, I was on my guard and told him of my belief that it was all a scam. But there was also the Holy Spirit talking to me. Even with this, it took a year of me refusing to listen to that inward prodding from God before I finally went to see if what the pastor told me was correct. I went and saw, and we began the orphanage in 2017.

The entire affair is a very long story, but since beginning the orphanage, someone occasionally still asks me how I know that it is not a scam. Usually the inquiry is in a polite way from someone who simply wants to know. But once in a while, it is less of a question and more of an accusation, saying that I am part of a scam.

This has come to me recently. It has caused me (once again) to demonstrate the veracity of this work of helping these kids. Despite these attacks, I am happy for the children that we have helped over the years and have gotten to know from trips to Kenya to see them.

Once again seeing the need to defend the ministry, I asked the various government agencies who oversee the work there for letters of recommendation. They are posted below:

Letter from Chief David (the local chief)

Letter from Department of Children's Serices from Sub County Gucha

Letter from Kisii County Children Director

THE NEED FOR WATER

2024-06-28T20:48:00.002-05:00

This is how the children have fetched the water for use in the orphanage. We do have a water collection system from the roofs of the buildings, but it does not often provide enough for all of the needs.

You will notice that the water is not very clean, but we are in the final stages of being able to dig a well to get clean water.

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